How To Have A Successful Holiday Season

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A Successful Holiday Season is it Within Your Reach?

The holiday season is, for all intense purposes, upon us. It’s no surprise, happens to fall in our laps about the same time every single year. According to the television commercials, newspapers, magazines and education facilities from pre-school on up this is supposed to be a very loving, joyful time. On the flip side, the American Psychiatric Association warns us about the high rate of depression and suicide. It’s amazing how all the events that take place from Halloween until New Year’s Day can take its toll on even the most laid back of people.

Many people say they have a way of navigating successfully through the get-togethers, dinners, gift exchanges and their typical workloads. There is a talent to being able to maintain a sense of sanity during what can be some of the most financially and emotionally exhausting period of the year. After sending out requests (or pleas) to different message boards on several women’s magazines, I decided to share some of the member’s best advice. Hopefully, they are as helpful to anyone reading as they are to the 30 kind responders!

On the subject of gift giving:

Responses about actual gifts or gift certificates were split right down the middle. Half felt gift certificates made the giver seem impersonal and uncaring. Half felt the certificate, check or old-fashioned green saved everyone from hurt feelings as well as awful gifts. One respondent put it best: “I do both. If I know that someone wants something special, and it’s within my budget, I buy it. If I have no idea then old-fashioned cash always fits, it’s the perfect color and no one can ever have too much”

On the subject of Family:

Here was quite a hotbed of opinions. Those who saw their families year-round, felt that “getting away” was their idea of the perfect holiday season. Some felt as long as the visit was 2-3 days and, like leftovers, were thrown out afterwards, anything could be lived through. Some wanted to host their out of town members as long as possible to give their children a sense of family. Many commented on the commercialism of the whole season and had decided somewhere along the way to cut back on everything from hosting, visiting, cooking, cleaning and gift exchanges and enjoy only the original meaning of the season. Several respondents, whose children were at the tween stage, said they had become extremely upset over the kids “right of entitlement” to “clean everyone’s wallet” with gifts and were now celebrating the holidays by signing up for stints at homeless shelters.

On the subject of Work:

Depending on the profession of the respondents, many stated that because the holidays many of their clients, customers and vendors saw a huge dip in interest in their given field, they decided to shut down and take the week between Christmas and New Year’s off. As well as the day after Thanksgiving, stating that many of them intended to take full advantage of what has been dubbed “Black Friday” to go shopping. Many of the respondents worked in the home design/improvement arenas-they added that if a remodel or redecorating project hadn’t been completed by Thanksgiving, most clients wouldn’t consider doing anything until after the first of the year. Of course, the two nurses and one doctor stated they found themselves putting in extra hours and more time away from their families to take care of all the medical issues that always seemed to double during the last quarter of the year.

Having a successful holiday season is well within everyone’s reach-however what makes this time of the year special is very subjective. What works like the proverbial charm for one person’s clan will be considered a bomb for another group. The trait that seemed to be most important was that everyone have a little more tolerance and patience for one another’s idiosyncrasies and enjoy whatever events happen to occur.

Carine Nadel decided long ago that holidays were stressful enough without deliberately making herself crazy by doing too much. She now spends her time the way that's works best for herself and her family. To read more of Carine's point of view log onto: http://www.Carine-whatscooking.blogspot.com or http://www.fabulously40.com